It was a picture-perfect day on Aug. 6 as the Valley Stream Republican Committee hosted its annual golf outing at the Lido Beach Golf Club.

Roughly 120 golfers teed off during the event and another 45 people attended the cocktail reception and dinner buffet that followed. The occasion was marked with the honoring of two well-known members of the committee: Judge Geoffrey O’Connell and Dominick Minerva Jr.

John DeGrace, the committee’s executive leader, said the day was a success from start to finish, and the great weather didn’t hurt either. DeGrace added that he and a lot of other members of the committee use the annual golf outing as an opportunity to reconnect with old friends.

“It’s a tradition,” he said of the golf outing. “Many people come to support the party and people they know, but it’s also like a semi-reunion. We have a lot of people who grew up locally in Valley Stream…a lot of the people who are in government and politics.”

Two of the Valley Stream residents who are big in the Republican Party, Minerva Jr. and O’Connell, were recognized for their commitment to the party as well as their community.

Minerva Jr. grew up in the village, graduating from Central High School in 1995. He still practices law in Valley Stream at the firm of Minerva & D’Agostino, P.C. He was a local Republican committeeman for five years, the vice president of the Valley Stream Republican Committee for two years and has served as the organization’s president for three years. He was to be honored at last year’s event, but was unable to attend due to the death of his father.

DeGrace called Minerva Jr. a great, young attorney who cares about Valley Stream. It was a major reason why he was selected as an honoree, DeGrace added.

O’Connell is a retired New York State Supreme Court justice and has lived in Valley Stream since infancy. He became active with the Valley Stream Republican Committee in 1972 and was first elected to the Nassau County District Court in 1985. Eight years later, he was elected to the state’s Supreme Court where he presided over civil litigation.